# TOM November: Christmas Cheer '07



## IHT (Dec 27, 2003)

put your reviews of the Tobacco of the Month November here.


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## kheffelf (Jul 31, 2006)

*Re: TOM Novemeber: Christmas Cheer '07*

Thanks for doing the thread, I forgot all about it, guess I need to start another poll here soon too.


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## Secret Pipe Santa (Dec 9, 2005)

*tisk-tisk-tisk*
No reviews of my blend?


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## rehbas21 (Aug 8, 2007)

Ive had a few bowls but Ive learned from the few Ive had, for starters I need to let it dry out more next time, hopefully I will have a review up in the next week or so. If anyone needs a few bowls worth give me a pm and I'll help you out.


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## Bruce (Dec 31, 1999)

2007?
It's too young to smoke now.
LOL!


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## IHT (Dec 27, 2003)

Bruce said:


> 2007?
> It's too young to smoke now.
> LOL!


i know, but that's what was voted on...
i've got a tin from '94...



rehbas21 said:


> If anyone needs a few bowls worth give me a pm and I'll help you out.


very cool offer, ryan.

i 2nd that: if anyone needs a couple bowls to try, let me know.
i just cracked my tin and spent the next half hour rubbing it out into a bowl and putting it back in the tin.


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## Nutiket_32 (Oct 26, 2006)

Ive only had a couple bowls so far but haven't been overly impressed. Its also my first straight Virginia though, so I don't have anyway to really compare it.


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## Sancho (Oct 13, 2006)

Thanks to IHT I got a chance to try some of this tonight, this was a interesting tasting tobacco which to me tasted like a stronger version of Peterson's Sherlock holmes. The taste wasn't bad but I suppose I perhaps had hyped it up after trying some of the 2001 series that Evan sent me. It burned very nicely and the smoke was quite cool, with a nice pine tree like aftertaste. Not sure if its smething I would buy to cellar away, but it was a nice change of pace from the latakia heavy blends I've been smoking lately. I'll have to be more comprehensive when I light up the next bowl. Thanks again Greg!


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## IHT (Dec 27, 2003)

y'know i've had 1 bowl so far... it was too moist, and may have muted the flavors a bit. at least that's what i was nervously telling myself.
i'll crack that tin of '94 this weekend and see if there's a difference.

so far, i wasn't impressed, but i could tell there could be good things from it if it aged and then was dried a bit.


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## EvanS (Dec 29, 2006)

IHT said:


> y'know i've had 1 bowl so far... it was too moist, and may have muted the flavors a bit. at least that's what i was nervously telling myself.
> i'll crack that tin of '94 this weekend and see if there's a difference.
> 
> so far, i wasn't impressed, but i could tell there could be good things from it if it aged and then was dried a bit.


I am only on my 2nd bowl so far...a sample I got from TimB. I dried mine pretty good because I have trouble with Xmas Cheer in general. So far the 1st bowl (smoked straight thru) and the 1st half of the 2nd bowl (gonna DGT 2nd half) have been summarily uninteresting. There is a hint of the tang that I remember from the 2001 - 2004 Cheer that I've had in the past, but that's it. Just a hint. Aside from the lack of tartness there also does not seem to be any stand out flavor.

So far, give me a can of McCranie's Red Ribbon any day.


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## EvanS (Dec 29, 2006)

OK, after about a 3 hour rest I went for the 2nd half of the 2nd bowl. Not too much difference. The flavor was a little bit smoother, but the question could be posed "smoother than what?" as there was really not much flavor there to begin with.

Overall I'd say the flavor is somewhat cigarette-ish with a slightly citrus aftertaste. Matter of fact the aftertaste my well be the best part of this smoke. My sample is sealed up so it has not dried itself out and it still has that unique McC VA fermentation smell. I have what looks to be about 5 or 6 more bowls to try and I will reserve final judgement until after they are gone, but for now I see nothing very cheerful about this years Cheer. Mind you it does not taste bad to me, it just has too little flavor to be considered interesting.


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## EvanS (Dec 29, 2006)

gone thru 9 bowls now over the course of 3 days. Tried various levels of moisture, various levels of rub, speeded up and slowed down puffing....but still Snooze City. To me this is not only NOT a special VA blend, it's not even a noteworthy common VA.

I guess time will tell what age wlll do, but I'll be relying on someone else to tell me about it.


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## Buster (Aug 25, 2006)

got a tin from '92 that is smoking very nice. havent had the '07 yet..


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## hova45 (Jun 17, 2007)

I just popped my 05 tin I have to let some dry to be able to enjoy it. I tried it wet ohhhhhooo big mistake...lolp but i really like it and the smell of catsup is yummy


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## paperairplane (Nov 8, 2007)

There are a lot of reviews out there - this is going to focus on my impession. I think something called holiday cheer would be a tobacco to smoke once the bird has been carved, the pumpkin pie eaten, the plates cleared - and all that remains is to pour a glass of cognac and settle in by the fire, ponder the holiday season, and cheer for whoever is (hopefully) beating the Cowboys.

I think it there is some 'fun' to be had in laying some up - down the road you can show off your xmas 07, 08, 09, etc... but on the merit of the smoke alone - this is a fine daily tobacco. It's good, and if unhurried has nice flavors and some complexity... I smoked 4 bowls today and could smoke this all day...

But to be honest, if this was named "Va blend #2545" we wouldn't even be discussing it. Some of us would try it, think it's okay and move on to the next thing. Without the seasonal, limited edition nature of the tin, there are probably better things to burn. I guess I am just looking for something that stands out more in a special blend.

For all that, I am likely to buy a tin to throw in the cellar for a year or so...


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## CigarGal (Jun 2, 2006)

I have 2 tins of the 2007. There were so many ravs avout the 2006 I thought I would give this one a try. I haven't opened a tin yet based on the not-so-good reviews on this thread. Maybe I will save them for a few years before I crack one open.

Last year one of this forum's great botls sent me some Uhle's Christmas blend-that was awesome baccy. I put some in a jar and I hope it aged well thru the year. I may open that for Thanksgiving.


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## dayplanner (Dec 11, 1997)

*Christmas Cheer 2007*

It appears from the reviews that 2007 isn't as good of a blend as 2006. I was thinking about picking up a tin from my B&M, but wanted to make sure this wouldn't be a waste of time to age a bit (which is what I wanted to do with it)


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## IHT (Dec 27, 2003)

*Re: Christmas Cheer 2007*

like cigars, they get better with age.
i'm sure when i try yet another bowl of '07, it'll be better than the first one i had.


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## sspolv (Dec 26, 2005)

I'll give this one an "eh." I had a few bowls over break and wasn't overly impressed. It was actually more of a let down than anything. I picked up a tin greedily from smokingpipes.com and let it sit for a tad. Tin date was 7/20/07 and I let it sit until 11/20/2007. Packed it into my trusty corncob and fired it up with a Bic. Overall...it was just one of those "just there" smokes. It wasn't much special but it did have a clean, crisp Virginia flavor with a light undercurrent of citrus in parts. Even with an hour and a half of drying I still had lighting problems and gurgle towards the end of the bowl. Truthfully, I'm probably going to mason jar this one and forget about it for awhile. I can only hope that some more aging will redeem the $14 I spent on the 100g tin.


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## Sancho (Oct 13, 2006)

Second and third bowl of this went much the same as the first, fairly uninteresting but a nice enjoyable bowl none the less. I do enjoy the kick/zing that the finish on the bowl has with this tobac though :tu


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## IHT (Dec 27, 2003)

I DGT'd a bowl from last night, smoked it this morning on the way to work after dropping off my son.

lit really easily, 1 flick of the old boy, it was going strong.
flavor, on the other hand, was not strong. it was tingly, but not very flavorful at all...

i hope age does this blend good. i need to open one of my older tins and try it out.


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## EvanS (Dec 29, 2006)

IHT said:


> i hope age does this blend good. i need to open one of my older tins and try it out.


I can understand the hope, but I don't really have any for this blend. The '06 POPPED right off the bat and seems to have mellowed and melded a bit over the course of the past year. Which I think is a good thing since it was pretty rambunctious right from the tin. The '07, on the other hand.....well, I just don't know how aging will make flavors appear that weren't there in the first place

:2


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## IHT (Dec 27, 2003)

just like cigars, evan. it's still tobacco. young tobacco still needs time. some young cigars are very tame in the flavor dept, also due to their moisture.
then again, this years batch could royally suck and a decade won't help it.

i don't know if i want to find out.


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## NCatron (Sep 7, 2005)

Man, my first year of buying CCheer and now you've all gotten me depressed. I guess I'll just not even open it and try it next Christmas with a year+ of age.


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## EvanS (Dec 29, 2006)

NCatron said:


> Man, my first year of buying CCheer and now you've all gotten me depressed. I guess I'll just not even open it and try it next Christmas with a year+ of age.


ehhh - seems like on these limited runs you HAVE to buy at least 2, don't you?

One for now, one for later?


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## jgros001 (Jun 14, 2005)

NCatron said:


> Man, my first year of buying CCheer and now you've all gotten me depressed. I guess I'll just not even open it and try it next Christmas with a year+ of age.


me too....just get some older ones....picked up an '02


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## replicant_argent (May 13, 2006)

uh..... small thread jack... but what's "DGT" ? 


Don't 
Go 
There?





Drifty 
Gypsys
Task?




3 letter search strings don't work, and I don't think I have read the term yet.


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## IHT (Dec 27, 2003)

Delayed Gratification Technique. <--- link, did a search for you since you can't do DGT and you didn't know what it meant. :tu

you light the bowl, smoke it for a few minutes, then set it down for a while later. some tobaccos smoke better than way, mainly VA based blends. i don't think i've read of many, if any, Latakia blends that DGT well.


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## IHT (Dec 27, 2003)

this blend is finally starting to get some flavor as it continues to dry out and breathe.


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## Linder (Nov 8, 2006)

Christmas is right around the corner.

Is anyone revisiting this blend?


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## IHT (Dec 27, 2003)

just had some a couple nights back. it's getting better, but it needed to age another year or three.


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## EvanS (Dec 29, 2006)

IHT said:


> just had some a couple nights back. it's getting better, but it needed to age another year or three.


Folding like a house of cards, I say. 

Had another bowl 2 days ago and still felt it was pretty bland. Certainly not a bad tobacco, but my hair did not get blown back at all.


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